With
the corporate capitalist economy falling apart as it is, some people
are looking at socialism with a less jaundiced eye. Of course, there
are some people for whom socialism was never the spawn of Satan that
banksters and other corporate cutthroats and their political minions
would have us believe. One of these people is Marxist author Fred
Goldstein, who was inspired as a college student to become a Marxist
by the Cuban revolution. Goldstein, a contributing editor to Workers'
World newspaper, has demonstrated, in the book Low-Wage
Capitalism,
that Marxist economic theory is alive and well in the post-Soviet
era. In fact, Marxist theory provides an excellent analytical tool
for explaining the failures of globalized capitalism to provide a
decent way of life for the world's people.

The
book looks at major developments in the past three decades which have
led us to the current crisis. In considering the growth of the
available world labor force, Goldstein shows that 19th
Century Marxist theory can be applied to a world very different from
that in which the theory was born. A world in which more women and
people of color are in the labor force still operates according to
Marx's law of wages. Just add sexism and racism to the various ways
the bosses exploit labor.

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The
essence of this book, however, is Goldstein's analysis of the role
that technology plays in the exploitation of labor. Technology has
its own chapter in the book, but it is a recurring theme in other
chapters. Technology, which should make life and work easier and
safer for workers, is instead used to reduce the labor force, so that
the unemployed and underemployed compete with the employed, thus
keeping a downward pressure on wages. Technology is also used to
"de-skill" jobs, making workers more fungible. This way, workers
who are being too "troublesome" in their demands for higher wages
or union representation can be more easily replaced.

Economic
conditions have gotten desperate, says Goldstein, despite the fact
that more families have at least two earners. He explains the decline
as inevitable, given the way capitalism works. Goldstein amply
demonstrates the decline with statistics, graphs and reports without
getting overly academic. This is a book one could easily read on the
train or bus to work.

Goldstein
believes that the workers need to do something on the political front
to change things. He argues for more understanding on the part of
workers of the existence of class differences and the need for class
struggle. This is where the book left me a bit dissatisfied because
the argument is for an old way of doing things: a class struggle or
"war", if you will. There are definitely class differences in
this country, and the overwhelming majority of workers end up in the
class in which they were born or lower, despite the myth of upward
mobility. Goldstein makes an excellent point in saying that people
who believe that they are in the owning class because they own a
business or are middle managers in a large corporation have to
realize that they have more in common with the employees under them
than with the bosses above them. (Owners of Chrysler dealerships that
were recently terminated, even if they were profitable, should take
heed!)

Workers
would be will served by having a greater understanding of labor
history, including the recent history of resistance to the demands
for cutbacks and concessions, because the study of history is useful
to any political movement. But people like me, who are having trouble
with the idea that the paradigm of struggle rather than cooperation
is still useful as a change mechanism--struggle is still a necessary
defensive tactic--may have problems digesting the last part of the
book.

Perhaps
I am having trouble with this approach because I believe that our
environmental crises will force everyone, even the bosses, to
understand that we have only one planet, we all live on it together
and even gated communities will not protect the ultra-wealthy from
environmental devastation. The book makes no mention of environmental
issues, and for me, that was a glaring omission. I don't believe that
any serious political change can be made without factoring the
environment into the economic analysis. In a radio interview I
conducted with Goldstein several months ago, he expressed concern for
the environment, explained how socialism was the answer to our
environmental problems, and wondered how capitalists could devastate
the environment as they have; after all, ecology and economy come
from the same root. I wish he had brought that viewpoint to bear in
the book.

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Still,
Low-Wage
Capitalism
provides an excellent analysis of the current economic situation.
Whether or not you believe in the value of class struggle a key to a
better future, it is worth reading for its look at the way things are
now.

Kellia is a freelance journalist in Oakland, CA who left the Pacifica Radio Network in July, 2010 after 11+ years in the KPFA news department and over 10 years with Free Speech Radio News. She is now in the odd position of needing a paid job while (more...)